Disinformation and the business models of tech companies

The European Union has identified disinformation as a threat to both society and democracy. However, both Sweden and the EU face a major challenge: disinformation is profitable, for large platforms and individual actors alike.

Photo by Sharad Bhat on Unsplash

About the project

Big platforms profit from disinformation because it is often designed to trigger strong emotional responses. This keeps users engaged, increasing clicks and advertising revenue. As a result, platforms are reluctant to regulate disinformation in ways that could disrupt their revenue streams. This, in turn, enables actors, such as those connected to Russia, to continue spreading disinformation and undermining democratic societies. At the same time, the structure of global advertising networks allows technically skilled individuals to create disinformation websites and earn money through ads, often without advertisers even knowing their ads are being shown on these sites.

This means efforts to fight disinformation face an uphill battle against powerful commercial interests, as tech companies' business models are part of the problem (Diaz Ruiz, 2023). The first part of this research project aims to explore this symbiotic relationship and build a deeper understanding of it. The goal is to provide insights into how these business models may need to change, or be regulated. The project expands on previous research by not only investigating how advertising finances disinformation, but also whether advertising increases the credibility of disinformation.

Through experiments, we will test whether the presence of advertising, especially from well-known brands, makes disinformation appear more trustworthy. If this is the case, the studies will offer new insights into how tech companies’ revenue models unintentionally promote the spread of disinformation. These insights could help guide policy and reform, an issue that is crucial for the civil defense of Sweden and the EU. Some tech companies have made attempts to flag or otherwise mark content as disinformation or misinformation. Independent fact-checking organizations are also involved in this work. The second part of the project, however, aims to investigate whether disinformation can still influence users even when they know it is false.

Through experimental studies, we will test whether people’s opinions on key issues can be affected by disinformation, even when it is clearly labeled as false. If so, the implications are clear: disinformation must be stopped before it reaches users. Once it has been seen, it may influence people’s thinking regardless of whether they know it’s wrong. Taken together, the two parts of the project aim to increase understanding of how people react to disinformation, and how the business models of major tech companies contribute to its spread. This knowledge can inform both companies and regulators on how to reduce disinformation in society, helping to strengthen our civil defense.

Research team